Holiday rental must have/have nots

[TitaniasAss]

What do you look for in a holiday rental property. What are you 'must' haves, your 'would like' and your 'absolutely puts me off's please?

I wouldn't book anywhere adjoining the owner's property or on the owner's grounds. I don't want them coming round to say hello. Just leave me alone. I can't relax when I'm expecting the owner to "nip round". I always read the reviews and if they mention the owner coming round, I book somewhere else.

My personal preference is for the kind of property that is clearly a lived-in and loved, family home/2nd home. A unique and beautiful property with a maintained garden, in a special location. Good utilities (wifi, hot water, heating etc). Comfortable beds and furniture, with decent linen.

I love to find bits and bobs tucked away in cupboards and drawers that speak of the history of the place and people. I love a few shelves of random old books, collections of maps, idiosyncratic pictures on the walls, a cupboard with a few board games.

I'm probably in a minority but it doesn't have to be all brand new or hotel standard clean, it just has to be clean and tidy enough.

• Curtain/window covering that at least meet in the middle properly and aren't thin
• Comfortable bed
• Reasonably decent knives and knife sharpener
• A couple of board games/puzzles/non-fiction books
• Everything easy to find/use

Ideally I would love to find somewhere with three double bedrooms (super ideally all with ensuite).

I agree with PP that you can't please everyone and should stick to common themes here - sufficient quantities, convenience, clarity of information.

Some of the suggestions on here are frankly barking. Ensuring a full set of matching glasses for every let? So long as there are plenty of glasses, who cares?

Personally I think that's pretty basic and not an unreasonable request.

I think it depends whether you mean matching glasses ie all of similar size and function, then that is a reasonable request. Getting two pint glasses, two sherry glasses and two tumblers (for example) is a pain in the neck. But having sets of glasses that are all in the same set isn't really necessary.

I'd have thought buying cheap glasses in bulk would be the most sensible approach anyway, so they would all come from the same source. Eg www.allianceonline.co.uk/tableware/glassware/wine-glasses/economy.html

Modern decor and fittings
The biggest comfiest bed possible
Electric towel heater
Coffee machine
Large shower
Good quality bath sheets and bed linen
Enclosed private outdoor area with nice plants and comfortable seating

I've stayed in a few holiday lets in my time and I'd echo must if the comments made here, the only thing I'd add is that we all have personal preferences and what some would consider a necessity others don't, personally I would check the property details beforehand for things like dishwashers, washer/dryers etc if they were a dealbreaker then if I really wanted to ensure that things I really needed were 'to hand' I'd bring them with me, my friend owns a holiday let and she told me although she does her level best to provide all the home comforts she can't anticipate every single need as they're often so diverse.

Wrt crockery matching/unmatching... this is going to depend on price point too. I would not be happy with a luxury cottage with mismatched stuff. Cheap flat at the seaside, just to bunk down in? Not so bothered.

People have different needs, so the best any holiday home owner can do is make VERY detailed listings on the websites, i.e. full inventory of what's provided and what isn't, lots and lots of pictures showing all rooms (and garden/drive) from different positions, etc. Give your potential customers all the information they need to make their own decision as to whether your holiday home will suit them and a heads-up as to what they need to bring that you don't provided.

It really annoys me when a listing is very sparse with details, few pictures, etc., and most of the time, I just move on rather than contacting the owners to ask for more information (from experience, far too many either don't reply or don't actually answer your questions).

I think it's pretty essential that if you're advertising a let for 6 people, then there are 6 wine glasses and 6 fruit juice glasses. It's not very nice expecting people to drink wine or fruit juice out of a tumbler!

Likewise, providing a 2 slice toaster for a home for 6 people - it takes forever to make toast at breakfast or if you're having beans on toast or similar for a quick lunch!

Same with cereal bowls, large/small plates, etc - if you advertise for 6 people, then you need at least 6 of each type of common crockery!

All that are pretty normal costs of running a hospitality business. Do you think restaurants and pubs don't have a lot of broken crockery/glasses etc or the occasional damaged toilet? That's why holiday let prices are usually so high - i.e. to cover "breakages" and damages. You just have to factor it in as part of your business plan. Totally unreasonable to expect no wear & tear, accidental breakages, etc.

See throws of any description are a turn off for me. No idea how many peoples smelly feet have been wrapped in them!! I won't rent anywhere where the sofas are covered in throws!!

I think it's pretty essential that if you're advertising a let for 6 people, then there are 6 wine glasses and 6 fruit juice glasses. It's not very nice expecting people to drink wine or fruit juice out of a tumbler!

Am I the only person who didn’t know that fruit juice needed a special glass? I just use a tumbler here (it’s smaller than the glass I use for water) so wouldn’t bother me at all to have to do that on holiday. I do agree about the wine glasses, though.

Number one: Don't expect me to clean it to a high standard at the end of the stay. I don't expect to have to clean a hotel room, and I don't want to clean your holiday let, other than the basics (rubbish out, dishes washed).

Oh, I have another one. Don’t expect me to cart glass bottles / jars to the nearest recycling point 5 miles away.

@hopeishere me too! I always move hotel bed throws for the same reason (which are usually less washed than rental places)

Generally, get a decent sofa. Every single place we’ve stayed at, bar one, has been dire. Cheap leather look or weird rattan style which were so uncomfortable

I hate the fact rental places seem to be where the owners old furniture gets put to die (see also, terrible beds and mattresses)

Don’t waste pictures in your listing with views of a particularly attractive door knob or a vase of flowers on a side table. Do show me how many seats are in the living room and how many can sit and eat at a table. Don’t, as happened in the last house we rented, have a beautiful second sitting room that you don’t mention or have any pictures of. It was a nice surprise, but was quite a lot more important than the picture of the plaque with the house name and the skylight that they did have pictures of.

Sorry, one other one, if you're in North or West Scotland in particular: blackout curtain linings or blinds.

Nothing ruins a holiday more than being wide awake with the sun before 5am and having to tell a small child that "it's really not getting up time yet" as you give up on ever getting back to sleep, stumble down the stairs in desperate search for strong coffee and that fucking peppa pig dvd.

No to throws or cushions on beds, unnecessary clutter which will get put in the bottom of the wardrobe or stacked in a corner of the room till we leave again.

I think sometimes owners of rental properties just see them as an income stream and don't like to factor in the real cost of running them.

Of course things will get damaged and will need to be replaced between rentals!

Yes quite, hence the need to choose easily replaceable sets of crockery and glasses.

Cotton sheets, white bed linen. Dishwasher, decent pans big enough for number of people staying. Spare crockery so you don’t need to run dishwasher every meal.

must:
not allow dogs/pets
allergy friendly bedding
diswasher
basic kitchen equipment (sponge, kitchen towel)
shower (can be over bath)
check out cleaning included

nice to have (but would not depend on for booking)
wifi
washing machine
welcome basket

I like really clean, good clean bed linen, lots of towels and parking. We rarely eat in so I dont mind the kitchen stuff although we like tea and coffee first thing.